magic

Tonight at 10PM on Showtime it's the seventh season premiere of Penn & Teller: Bullshit! Yup, it's in its seventh season. They've covered a lot of controversial topics over the years and this episode will be no exception. Here's a preview. Before you hit play, please note that the topic is orgasms.

I can juggle a little bit, and one thing I can do it juggle a loaf of bread, a can of soda, and a piece of candy. It took a while to get used to the difference weights and sizes, but it was easy compared to this. It's Penn Jillette, juggling broken bottles, a preview of a new "Las Vegas" episode of TLC's Time Warp that will air on June 17. I guess it's one of those things where you have to think that you're still juggling bottles that aren't broken or you'll lose your concentration.

Can't embed that video, but here's Penn doing the same thing in London a while back.

There are probably a ton of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon viewers who have no idea who The Amazing Kreskin is. But he was a big deal many, many years ago. Last night he did a trick on Fallon's show that I think he said he wasn't allowed to do on The Tonight Show when Johnny Carson was host. Honestly? I have no idea what's so special about this trick. And neither does the audience, judging from their reaction.

This isn't from a late night show or a clip from Penn & Teller's magic act, it's actually from yesterday's Glenn Beck Show on Fox News. Penn has been on the show before, and besides talking about Lindsey Graham, Libertarianism, and gay rights, he tries to pick up an M&M with chopsticks. Does he succeed?

(S02E06) "You can't sugarcoat that turd." -- The Great Herrmann to Ned

Magic and the macabre, a recipe for a perfect Pushing Daisies episode. This one also had the virtue of Fred Willard doing a terrific guest star turn as "The Great Herrmann." Considering how misused Fred has been on some other shows (Back to You last season, for instance), it was refreshing to see him really shine here. His heart-to-heart with Ned, making Ned feel uncomfortable emotions because of the memories of his father's abandonment, was a high point of the show.

Ned accepts an invitation to watch his half-brothers -- Maurice and Ralston, the family Ned didn't know he had -- at The Conjurer's Castle. Their act is called "Two for the Show," and they're actually illusionists. Later on, their sleight of hand expertise helps solve the case.

He's survived being encased in ice, being buried alive in a grave, being trapped in a plexiglass box high in the air, holding his breath underwater for Oprah, and standing on top of a pedestal for a few days, but this is the first stunt where magician David Blaine will wear magnetic footwear. Take that, Criss Angel!

ABC has announced the next special to feature Blaine, who seems to be loved and loathed in equal measure. The show is titled "The Dive of Death," and will feature Blaine walking on the underside of a thin wire high above Wollman Rink in New York City. He'll do it for three days and nights, with the help of magnetic boots. On a related note, "The Dive of Death" also describes the bar down the street from my apartment.

Even in the world of overdone magic trick specials, this one looks like it was especially overdone.

If you haven't heard, illusionist Criss Angel escaped from an imploding building Wednesday night. The A&E star was handcuffed to a six story building and had to unlock the cuffs and escape the structure via a helicopter on the roof, before tnt went off and the building imploded. Did he make it? The fact that you haven't heard any news reports of his crushing will probably give you the answer.

A&E will celebrate the return of Mindfreak (in it's fourth season, God help us) by broadcasting the first ever live episode of the show. The special one-hour episode will feature Angel shackled to a six-story building. He must escape to a helicopter hovering over the rooftop as the building explodes. But wait, there's more. The fourth season kicks off one week before the live show with "Walk on a Lake," the season premiere. In this episode, the magician will attempt to walk on the world's largest man-made lake, Lake Mead in Nevada.

I think all the season premiere will prove is that Criss Angel definitely has a God-complex. He is the biggest megalomanic douchebag I've ever seen on TV. I think the best thing to come of Mindfreak is that parody Mad TV did. I put the video after the jump.

The live Mindfreak will air on July 30th at 10 p.m. ET on A&E. The season premiere will air on July 23rd at 10 p.m. ET. Will you be watching?

On today's edition of Oprah, which many people in the country have already seen, magician/stunt artist David Blaine attempted to break the world record for a person holding their breath. Did he actually do it? The results after the jump.

I recently saw an ad on the Sci-Fi Channel promoting the US debut of Derren Brown'sMind Control, which was his first show from 2000. A few years ago, a friend of mine sent me a clip of the zombie video game stunt Derren pulled, and I was immediately captivated.

Soon after, I had watched every single episode of Mind Control and Trick of the Mind online. Sure, I didn't completely believe everything I saw, but the show was a refreshing change from the likes of Criss Angel and David Blaine. Brown wasn't striving for the same "magician as rock star" pretentiousness, priding himself mainly on his use of psychology and showmanship. The show is slick and super-cool, so I recommend it to anyone who has a fascination with things like the art of mind manipulation and subliminal messaging.

(S02E17) Remember when I said I couldn't review this show anymore? Well, I have the CW again, so it's all good. Hopefully it won't be removed from my cable again.

My love for this show may have just increased ten fold. This episode was not only well-written and well-acted as usual, but it actually contained a reference to Night of the Lepus, probably the best movie ever made about gigantic killer bunnies. I'm not sure I believe Chris' real father actually had an irrational fear of rabbits, but it provided a nice B story about how willing Julius is to be there for his kids, even if it means passing out at a magic show.

Of course, this is an entire new usage of the word "reality." You know, the kind of reality where kids have magical powers and can fly around on broomsticks? My dictionary needs some serious updating. Apparently a new series coming to the BBC entitled The Sorcerer's Apprentice (no, we aren't kidding) will enroll fourteen kids into a Hogwarts-esque school where they "will be schooled in magic history and folklore, told the latin terms for casting spells, and taught how to look after resident magic animals. As their knowledge and skills progress they will also be taught the art of illusion."

Apparently they'll basically be taught magic by lesser known David Copperfields and Lance Burtons, thereby making this potentially one of the greatest must see train wreck shows in television history. Yes, kids are adorable, but watching them try to learn sleight of hand so they don't get voted off a TV show? Ouch-tastic. Stay tuned for more as the secrets are revealed. You might also brace yourself for a lot of magical puns, because I just can't help myself.

Not only is magician Penn Jillette doing his radio show from New York City Halloween week, but he and his silent partner Teller are going to be making a ton of appearances on Halloween and the following week.

The magic duo will be on The View on October 31 (oh, if they could make one or two or the hosts disappear, oh please, oh please, oh please...). Then, on November 1, they'll be on the local New York morning show on the CW and, later that night, The Colbert Report. Then, we'll see them on the CNN Headline News show Glenn Beck. Which seems like an, um, interesting choice.

Penn & Teller's Showtime show Bullshit has been renewed for a fifth season.

That's going to be the magician's next stunt on ABC. He's going to hang 135 feet above the water from the Brooklyn Bridge for a long period of time.

It was reported a few weeks ago that Blaine's next stunt would involve living with various dangerous animals in the jungle, but it looks like while that project is still in the works, it's going to be a documentary and not one of his stunts.

The NY Post piece above says that last week he was hanging from the bridge with suspension wires. But I'm still not sure what the stunt will be. Will he be hanging from suspension wires? If so, I'm not sure what the "stunt" aspect is. Or maybe he was just practicing and he'll be hanging from his hands or something?

Not a zoo, mind you, but a real, honest to goodness jungle, with wild, dangerous animals. He wants to be the next Tarzan, though several experts are advising him against him. Says zoologist Dave Salmoni of Animal Planet:

"I'd be amazed if he lasted a week in a place like the Sunderbunds ... after just 24 hours, chances are excellent that Blaine would run across a Bengal tiger - and it would eat him."